Tag: note

As I have previously documented, I’m a huge fan of iCandy. No-less because they’re a British brand with eye-catching, yet hardwaring products. It’s also very well documented that as a family, we’re HUGE fans of John Lewis. Again, another British brand with an amazing ethos for quality products and a company that prides itself in looking after its customers; and it’s partners (general staff!).

So, you can imagine my horror when one day I couldn’t remove the safety bar on my iCandy Strawberry pram. Eli was wearing his Ponseti Boots so it made it awkward to get him out. Eli had only been riding in the stroller/seat unit for about 5 weeks. So it was still pretty much brand new. I can’t say that this travel system was on the cheap side either; all in all it did cost nearly £900. BUT as I walk everywhere, the iCandy Strawberry was a definite investment – and I absolutely LOVE it.

As a Social Media wizard, my first point of call was to message the iCandy Facebook page. I left a comment on their wall and got a lovely response soon after. The iCandy Facebook assistant advised I contact John Lewis. So I did just that.

Unfortunately, you can’t call a store directly. You go through to the John Lewis central customer service centre, even if you have a direct number for the store you wish to contact. This however, is not a bother. The customer service advisors are so astute and just want to help you out. So jolly (but not annoyingly jolly!) and helpful they all are. This also means that all discussions are kept under a reference number so everything is kept organised and each advisor you speak to already know everything there is to know about the nature of your call.

I was advised that someone from the Stratford store would contact me with regards to having the seat unit fixed.

Our iCandy Peach loan, soon after it arrived!

Someone called me from the Nursery department at Stratford about an hour later. After a few discussions it was decided that someone from the Stratford store would personally come to my home, on the train, with an iCandy Peach loan. Then they would take my iCandy Strawberry seat unit back to the store, where it would be sent away to be fixed. I cannot drive and now I’m working from home it makes it difficult to take a whole day off – plus it would mean paying for the cost of trains to and from Stratford, twice. I thought this was just incredible.

After the weekend sure enough, a lovely chap called Calvin from the Nursery department turned up, bang on time, with my iCandy Peach loan.

Our replacement iCandy Strawberry seat unit came back in just over a week!

A week later, Calvin came back with my new iCandy Strawberry seat unit and collected the iCandy Peach loan.

Absolutely above and beyond. Just simply wonderful service from start to finish. I can’t think iCandy and especially, John Lewis enough. I’ve never ever heard of a retailer doing that for anyone. Retailers just aren’t like that these days. John Lewis have completely set the standard in retail customer service and they should be extremely proud of all who work for them! That kind of service is just off the scale. Unheard of. Exceptional.

A little while ago I wrote this post >> Wonderful package from The Essential One. I’d received a lovely package from the lovely people at The Essential One; I was touched by the lovely thoughtful note and blown away by the incredible packaging. They really do go the extra mile with making sure their customers feel loved! And that scent…ahhh, the amazing packaging is even filled with their signature ‘just washed baby’ scent. SO GOOD. But more to the point, I was really impressed with the look and feel of the clothing.

After a quick first-time wash I added the bag of three babygro’s to my hospital bag ready for Baby Eli’s arrival. I always wash any new clothes before Eli wears them – it was great to see that the Essential One pieces washed so nicely. They came out of the wash so soft and snuggly! Unfortunately however, Eli was a little on the small side (much to EVERYONE’s surprise!) so he didn’t fit into the babygro’s as a newborn 🙁

This week however, Eli now weighs 9lb 11oz and fits perfectly into them and I just had to share!

Mr Eli having a snug old time in his cosy Essential One babygro!

Mr Eli having a wee snooze in his snuggly Essential One babygro!

I’m a huge fan of independent businesses and would definitely encourage you to support The Essential One! Their clothing is just so scrummy and perfect for your baby or for gifts for your loved ones! Take a look TheEssentialOne.com

This week we received a wonderfully packaged parcel from the lovely people over at The Essential One. We’ve been looking in depth at what we need to include in our Hospital Bag (of which I should have had sorted this week, whoops!). One of the essentials that top’s the list to include is of course New Born sleepsuits/baby grows, so we were over the moon when this set of 3 arrived! I cried when I open the outer packaging, how nice is the little note that came with it?! I was touched!

I firstly just want to point out the detail that The Essential One go to with their packaging… everything is beautifully wrapped in their signature tissue and stamped firmly closed with logo stickers. The one other thing you cannot mistake when opening their parcels is the incredible ‘just washed baby’ scent! Absolutely amazing! Our living room filled with this intoxicating just-out-of-the-bath scent, which has made us even more inpatient for our little babbit to arrive! We can’t wait to recreate the smell for real.

So what was in the package then? A set of 3 incredibly soft and cute Baby Grows, that come in a self fabric drawstring bag! The extra bag is going to be so useful. I intend on using it with my changing bag, for additional clothing that we might need on a daily basis! Can’t get over how luxuriously soft the cotton is on these sleepsuits – absolutely perfect for our new born son’s skin. There’s also poppers down each leg for ease of nappy changing.

We're mad on stripes - so this Baby Grow is perfect! The pretty Essential One branding is appliquéd to the back of all three sleepsuits. A nice touch.Love this cute printed sleepsuit!Really sweet baby grow with the signature bunny logo to chest and leg.

You can purchase every Essential you’ll need for your New Born (and upwards) from TheEssentialOne.com Once you’ve had a look, you’ll be hooked! Of course, all of the essentials will also make really nice gifts for expecting parents too!

Actually cannot wait to use these sleepsuits – they’re the first things we’ve got for our Hospital Bag (must must must sort this week!) so we’re really excited:D Not long now!

We had booked this little break away after having all the scans and tests a few weeks ago. We’d decided that we would need a relax after such a rollercoaster couple of weeks…

Being 19 weeks pregnant, we jut wanted to go somewhere where we could relax and chill out for a few days. Get away from it all. A spa was perfect. I literally spent 3 days alternating between the swimming pool and jacuzzi (Hydrotherapy Pool). Unfortunately, all of the treatments were too expensive for our budget… in fact, they were just overpriced in general.

I’m well aware that this review is just going to sound like a right moan! It was our first trip to a Spa though, so we would have expected a bit more in some areas. Albeit, we had a wonderful time and would return tomorrow! But with hindsight of course ;o

Pro’s

– Drinks were relatively cheap.

– Comfortable bed.

– Contemporary room with lovely bathroom and great views of the gardens. Usual coffee and tea making facilities.

– Lovely staff – all very polite and always had a smile.

– Easy place to relax.

– Food was great, restaurant quality.

– Great swimming pool and hydrotherapy pool. Can’t review the Steam, Sauna or Salt Inhalations rooms as I can’t use them being pregnant… but DP absolutely loved all three. So they kept him quiet! 😀

– Loved the Orchids Bar area too… must recommend the bread and olives. Best olives I’ve ever eaten! Amazing! Just £2.00 too!

– Very very nice gardens… it was absolutely blowing a gale outside and raining but this did not deter us! We borrowed some Hunter wellies from reception and had a great walk right around the gardens.

Con’s

– We weren’t given a ‘welcome’ note or shown around the complex. So didn’t know what facilities we could and couldn’t use.

– Because of the above, we didn’t know we had a safe in the room, until we were messing on with a rather ambiguous looking drawer underneath the TV!

– Again, because we weren’t given a ‘welcome’ note, we didn’t know that you could order Room Service.

– Couldn’t lock the door to the room.

– No bath in the room – albeit, the shower was incredible. I still could have done with a soak before bed!

– Treatments are expensive and need to be booked well in advance. Many people were left disappointment upon arrival when all appointments were booked up.

– Packages that exclude food are very expensive. A lunchtime meal (main and starter) will be around £45 for a couple with one wine and one soft drink. An evening meal is per the set menu, £35 for 3 courses or £28.50 for 2 courses.

– Menu’s left a lot to be desired for someone who is both pregnant and doesn’t eat fish or mushrooms! I ended up having the same evening meal on both nights of our stay because the menu didn’t change… and the Duck dish was the only one that didn’t contain fish or mushrooms! There was also a £3 additional supplement on this.

– There were no decaff teabags! I also wasn’t given an alternative… would have definitely thought there would be decaffeinated everything with it being a health spa!

– No soft drinks menu! Just Wine and Cocktail lists… which isn’t great when you can’t drink! Imagine if you’re an alcoholic visiting for a detox!

– Restaurant was basic-looking; for such an ambitious menu, it was a shame that the restaurant was more like a canteen in a Sainsbury’s with cheap chairs and tables. The chairs of which offered zero support for a pregnant lady.

– There were no bottles of water for free, or even for sale! So it was a case of having to get up every 5 minutes to go to the water fountain in the corner of the ‘Wet Area’. Which is quite annoying when you’re pregnant and just want to lay down, but of course, you need to keep hydrated.

– Although this spa is relatively new, (about a year old), we did notice lots of signs of wear and tear. I actually stood on a piece of broken glass in the Hydrotherapy Pool! Turns out, upon further inspection, lots of the mosaic tiles were cracked and broken, but glued back together. Again, when looking up from the jacuzzi, the ceiling paint was peeling…

It was such a shame there were these little niggles – we really did enjoy ourselves though! Honestly! And we would go back… just hopefully when they have a different menu! 🙂

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